>> i would hope so. >> i fed's approaching year-end dead line sets up a stand off with the nation's economy hanging in the balance. a new congressional budget office report predicts a fall off the cliff. could send the unemployment rate skyrockets by the end of next year. with the books on his presidency already being written, but the second chapter yet to be lived, can the president find common ground with a deeply-divided congress and dodge economic disaster? >> it's a huge challenge for president obama, but also a huge opportunity. health care reform in his first term and putting the fiscal house in order for the next four generations as the signature achievement already? >> he's going to have to strike some deals. and he's going to have to make some grand alliances. >> joining me from the white house is kristen welker. explain the footprint we can expect to hear. >> reporter: good morning. i think that the president is

going to try to achieve two things. first, to try to set the tone for his second term. your going it hear him make a call for bipartisanship. we heard some of that during his victory speech in chicago earlier this week. second, you'll hear him call on congress to work together to try to avoid this fiscal cliff, which as you just defined, are the mandatory tax increases and spending cuts that will go into effect the first of the year. he may talk about the need to extend the tax cuts for middle class americans and let them expire for wealthiest americans. i think the question right now is how big of a package is the president going to try to get as he begins to work with house speaker john boehner on this? as you remember during the 2011 negotiations, they tried to get a grand bargain. a $4 trillion deficit reduction that would have included cuts to medicare and medicaid, but also some tax increases. ultimately that deal fell apart. there are some democrats that would like to see the president

try to go big again in this second term. now the white house pardoned by some of the comments that john boehner made by saying that he's willing to come to the table to talk to the president about that. as you pointed out, he said that does not include tax increases for the wealthy. but i have been talking to some of my republican sources on the hill who say the speaker's language is important. it suggests a potential willingness to work with the president on the issue of taxes, which is of course the big sticking point. what does that mean? we don't know. it could mean eliminating deductions for big corporations for the wealthiest americans. those are the details that will have to be hammered out. but that report by the congressional budget office, which essentially said that the economy would slip back into recession if these lawmakers cannot get a deal done is adding a lot of urgency as these goexs

negotiations get underway. they need to work together to get something done. will that happen? there will be a lot of fighting back and forth, but i think there's an urgency to get it done before the 1st. >> explain the sense of attention that's going to go into the impact language that john boehner will use in his remarks again coming up in 12 minutes. >> i think there's a lot of anticipation about what specifically he's going to say. there's going to be a lot of attention to detail trying to read between the lines of what he says in this next press conference. the president house speaker tried to get a deal done during 2011. it fell apart. the question is can he get his conference on board to work out a compromise. >> kristen welker at the white house, thank you. the president is expected to speak at 1:05 eastern. we'll carry those remarks live. but we move on to say good morning to our friday political

panel. contributor jonathan capehart, strategist jamal simmons and alice store. the speaker talked about his negotiations with the president. i want to remind everybody. take a listen. >> i'm the most reasonable, responsible person here in washington. the president know this is. he knows that he and i can work together. the election is over. now it's time to get to work. >> speaker boehner said that with a straight face. didn't bat an eyelash. can we take it at face value? >> he's reasonable and responsible. who hasn't been is the tea party caucus. the big problem that speaker boehner had during the debt ceiling crisis is he was part of the grand bargain with the president but when he said no. but after the election, speaker boehner and now that the american people have spoken, speaker boehner has more weight behind him to say to his caucus,

folks, get in line. >> in last night's interview the speaker talked about obama care. i want to remind everybody what he had to say about that. >> the alexeis that. the the president is reelected. obama care is the law of the land. >> but you won't be spending the time next year trying to repeal obama care? >> there may be parts of it that we believe need e to be changed. we may do that. no decisions at this point. >> okay. obama care is the law of the land. maybe parts of it could be changed. it seems very conciliatory. but almost immediately, the speaker sent out a tweet saying that the goal is and will remain full repeal. and there it is. obama care is the law of the land but it's threatening jobs. our goal will remain full repeal. is the speaker talking out of both sides of his mouth. he's either lying to diane

sawyer or to everybody on twit per. >> the goal is full repeal. at the end of the day, given the fact the president has been reelected, that will be a difficult task to achieve. but there are specifics in obama care that will be difficult to implement and he plans to flush those out. but overall in the next few days and weeks to come through the beginning of the year, we're going to look at not just tax hikes, but spending cuts. i'm sure that's what boehner will focus on. >> is that just buying him cover? as jonathan pointed out, the tea party has been raucous for speaker boehner. does that prove he's trying to straddle both sides? >> john baner has a very tough political problem. i would feel sorry for them if they weren't so far off base. on the left, he has reality. on the right, addressing

reality. at some point the speakers in this party, they have to have a tough conversation with their base and say, listen, i understand where you are, but we're not going there right now. we have to deal with the fundamental problems of the country. as soon as speaker boehner started to do that, he got snatched back. he has to run for speaker at the beginning of the year. so he's got a political problem. >> i want to ask you because you worked with michele bachmann in her run for presidency. when she heard that interview that obama care is the law of the land, she must have been crawled up in the fetal position thinking shae she has to go back to washington, d.c. and deal with that. is the speaker just trying to tread water? running down the clock to keep his speakership in this new congress. >> at the end of the day, obama care is the law of the land. we begin a much different spot if romney was elected and we'd

have full support in washington to repeal it. but what he has said is we need to look at specifics of it that will be difficult to im plemt and go about having serious talks about what we can change. as we said, it's not just about obama care. it's not about tax hikes. it's about taking a serious look at cutting the entitlement spending. i think we're going to hear more and more about that in the next half an hour. >> the serious look is the president is heading into his second term. as we look ahead, and the legacy issue comes into this, already he's hearing the echoes of the dysfunctions from term one. what tone does he need to take today? he has four years of hindsight. >> right. the president has to do a combination of two things. he has to sound con sciliatory d say i want to work with you. i think, you know, democrats and republicans on the hill need to come together and put together a deal that, you know, safeguards

the middle class, but also safeguards the still weak american economy. but at the same time, he has to make it clear that he will only go so far. he has to show resolve and a firmness that i think some folks on capitol hill through previous fights don't think that the president has. did you want think the president has it within him to do that. so i think he needs to do those two things. >> thomas, let's keep in mind one thing. the president was explicit. he e said he was going to raise taxes in the course of the presidential campaign. people voted for him knowing that he's going to raise taxes on the upper income tax brackets. we're all going to have to share the burdens of our country and its problems and we're all going to share in the opportunities. that's what the republicans have to deal with. >> one thing i want to point out to everybody because the president often gets criticized

for being stoic, not showing a lot of emotion. this video from his campaign headquarters is catching a lot of people by surprise. take a look. >> it means that the work that i'm doing is approved. and i'm really proud of that. i'm really proud of all of you. [ applause ] >> alice, i want to start with you. people are going to see this and either they are going to love it or hate it. what does this emotional revelation say about the devotion that the president is going to bring to his second term, again, past his prologue, knowing what he has to deal with the house? >> you can't look at that video, in my opinion, love it. he's put everything he's had had into it. . i don't like his policies. but at the end of the campaign,

it's hard and excruciating for everyone involved and he's exhausted and certainly very proud. but one thing to jamal's point, we need to have everyone giving a little bit. that's not just the makers of this country, but the takers also. there needs to be joint sacrifice by everyone. let's hope that's part of the conversation in the weeks to come. >> i'm not sure who alice thinks the takers are, but if it's the veterans getting social security, who are these takers? >> we need to get away from the taker talk. we're all americans striving for the same thing. we're all trying to reach the same goal. >> thanks so much. our friday power panel, i appreciate it. have a great weekend. the naacp president is being called the election's unsung hero for his efforts to register african-american voters, especially in ohio. ben gellis will join us next. and we're waiting to hear from john boehner.

is he ready to compromise? we'll have him for you live. and after his comments last night, our question to you, is speaker boehner's message to caucus get on board or get out of the way? tweet me or find me on facebook. w way to deal with money that focused less on fees and more... on what matters? maybe your bank account is taking too much time and maybe it's costing too much money. introducing bluebird by american express and walmart. your alternative to checking and debit. it's loaded with features, not fees. because we think your money should stay where it belongs. with you. the value you expect. the service you deserve. it feels good to bluebird. get it at your local walmart.

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want to show you the live pictures from capitol hill. john boehner expected to hold a briefing. we'll take you back to that room as soon as the speaker begins. the results of the election have been called a demo bomb. the president defying history to win back the white house with the minority vote. voters stood in line, some for hours, even after polls closed to cast ballots. joining me is ben gellis, president of the naacp. ahead of the election, much of

it centered around voter suppression efforts around the country. now in an odd turn, karl rove has thrown out the theory that how the president won reelection. i want to show you. >> he succeeded by suppressing the vote. you may not like who i am, but i'm going to paint this other guy as a rich guy who only cares about himself. >> so president obama suppressed the vote. when we talk about voter suppression, there were real issues in florida and ohio and places where they were cutting back early voting. but is what we saw this week a backfire to what call the republican effort to suppress the vote. my voice will be heard. >> what we saw was the backlash to the backlash. we saw folks who had been fired up way earlier than before.

first by the tea party and its subtle on the president's person. very personal, nasty attack. that rolled right into attacks on the people of this country's right to vote. when you keep trying to steal something, they figure out that must be more valuable, perhaps than they realize. so state after state, passing laws, out of the ballot box, throughout the last couple years really woke folks up and said, look, i'm going to vote if i do nothing else. now the danger here is that the democrats get cocky. we have done some polling and it's clear first of all that this president couldn't have won florida or ohio or pennsylvania or virginia without a super turnout by the black community. as soon as obama's not on the ticket, the enthusiasm drops 20%. you end up with 20% of folks who are just not motivated to vote.

two, if republicans were to actually act like they care about civil rights, start rolling out people like jack who talk like jack kemp did, they can pick up 15% of the black vote. so the black vote for 2016 is very much in play. the black vote for 2012 is what saved the day. and this president needs to focus for the sake of our people, for the sake of his legacy and for the sake of his party on making sure he gets black folks back to work. because 2 out of 3 voted for jobs. that's why they were there. >> i want to show the numbers. president obama winning the black vote. we saw a two-point shift of the black vote from democrat to republican. if there's a way to pinpoint that, some people might think this could be a reaction to pulpit politics because the president came out to support marriage equality. could that be in play?

>> the real news there is that it was only two points. . if you go back to 2004, we saw a shift to george bush that was bigger than that, than what we saw in 2000 or what we saw in 2008 when he pushed the defense of marriage act. so what you see is this kind of use of social issues wane iing. if you talk about civil rights, if you ask them about it, if you intend to be the party of linco lincoln, you can pick up 15 points. 15 points can make a huge difference. >> condoleeza rice is the latest to say they can adapt for the changing policies. if you break down the numbers, the president lost the white vote but won with black, hispanic and asian voters. would it be like turning around an aircraft carrier? it's too late to do that?

>> they have to look to people with credibility. they need to go and beg colin powell for his involvement. they have not mistreated just him, but the greatest most respected military leader that we have. and they have done it again and again. you might pick up sint seven points if you had condoleeza rice on the ticket, but powell on the ticket, you'll pick up 15. they have tended to shun them and not create space. they have to go back and engage. the 150th year of the since the emancipation proclamation was put in place. >> ben, thanks so much. we want to go to speaker boehner now on capitol hill. >> to avert the fiscal cliff without raising taxes. about 24 hours after i spoke, the congressional budget office

released a report showing that the most harmful consequences of the fiscal cliff come from increasing tax rates. according to erin ston young it would destroy 700,000 jobs in our country. the members of our majority understand how important it is to avert the fiscal cliff. that's why the house took action earlier this year to replace the sequester with other types of cuts and it's also why we passed a bill to extend all of the current tax rates. for one year so that we had time to overhaul our tax code. and it's why i outlined a responsible path forward where we can replace the spending cuts and extend the current rates, paving of the way for entitlement reform as well as tax reform with lower rates.

2013 should be the year we begin to solve our debt through tax reform and entitlement reform. i'm proposing we avert the fiscal cliff together in a manner that ensures that 2013 is finally the year that our government comes to grips with the major problems that are facing us. this will bring jobs home, result in a stronger, healthier economy and a stronger, healthier economy means more americans working and more revenues, which is what the president is seeking. this framework can lead the common ground and i hope the president will respond today in that same spirit. as i said on wednesday, this is an opportunity for the president to lead. this is his moment to engage the congress and work towards a solution that can pass both chambers. earlier this week the president and i had a short conversation. it was cordial.

i think we both understand that trying to find a way to averlt the fiscal cliff is important for our country. and i'm hopeful that productive conversations can begin soon so that we can forge an agreement that can pass the congress. and with that, i will be happy to answer some questions. >> did you think if you talk about some of the revenues, it changes the statement -- you said in a conference call you were best when everybody stuck together. do you foresee those same problems with you start talking about some of these issues? there's already a lot of skepticism? >> when the president and i have been able to come to an agreement, there's no problem getting it passed.

>> you outlined your goal of not having tax rates go up as part of this solution. but you didn't lay out a deficit tool, talking about primary balance. what is the deficit goal that you have in mind? >> clearly the deficit is a drag on our economy. we can't continue to spend money we don't have. i don't want to box myself in or myself anyone else in. i think it's important for us to come to an agreement for the president, but this is his opportunity to lead. >> mr. speaker -- >> you violate the the rules. you're disqualified. >> notably the other day, you pointed to revenues. can you give us an idea of where you're going with that? tax rates are not on the table, are you talking about going after deductions?

>> it's clear that there are a lot of special interest loopholes in the tax codes. it's also clear that there are all kinds of deductions. some of which make sense, others don't. and by lowering rates and cleaning up the tax code, we know we're going to get more economic growth. it will bring jobs back to america. it will bring more revenue. we also know that if we clean up the code and make it simpler, then tax code will be more efficient. the current code only collects about 85% of what's due the government. and it's clear if you have a simpler, cleaner, fairer tax code, that efficiency and effectiveness of the tax code increases exponentially. >> the president won reelection and republicans were basically unable to get any seats in the senate. more people voted for democrats in the house than republicans.

why do you have any leverage whatsoever? >> there are republicans here in the house. the american people reelected the republican majority. and i'm proud of the fact that our team, in a very difficult year, was able to maintain the majority. there are a lot of races out there that are outstanding. but as a political party, it's clear we have some work to do. and i think the principles of our party are sound. we believe in individual responsibility. we believe in empowering our citizens. we believe in the american dream. and want that dream for everyone. but how we talk about who we are as a party is clearly a conversation that is underway and will continue. >> mr. speaker, on a different issue, do you plan to have a vote on the russia trade and human rights legislation? >> you'll have to ask mr.

cantor. i don't schedule the floor. >> mr. speaker, is it fair to say you could use the raising of the debt limit in 2013 as leverage on the fiscal cliff? >> it's an issue that's going to have to be addressed, sooner rather than later. >> mr. speaker, following on jake's question, a number of exit polls tuesday night said that there were an overwhelming number of americans, 60% or more, who favored raising taxes on the wealthiest of americans. will you be guide by that principle at all when you sit down to do this deal? >> the problem with raising tax rates on wealthiest americans are more than half of them are small business owners. we know 700,000 jobs would be destroyed. we also know that it would slow down our economy. the number one issue in the

election was about the economy and jobs. everyone wants to get our economy moving again. everyone wants to get more americans back to work again. raising tax rates will slow down the ability to create jobs that everyone says they want. >> mr. speaker, what are you looking for in terms of the entitlement side. are we talking about restraining the growth of social security and medicare and looking for change in both those problems? >> listen. we're spending a trillion dollars more than what we take in. we can't continue to do that. this is year two of a 25-year demographic bubble. it wasn't like anyone couldn't see it coming. 10,000 baby boomers like me retiring every day. that's 3.5 million this year and this is just the second year of the 25-year baby boom bubble.

and it's not like there's money in social security or medicare. this has to be dealt with. so everything on the revenue side and the spending side has to be looked at. >> mr. speaker -- >> i'm not going to call on you. i'm not blind. the young lady here. >> i just wanted to go back to your comments on immigration. you spoke about the chance of getting immigration reform. are you endorsing a pathway to citizenship? >> i'm not talking about that. i'm talking about a common sense, step by step approach to secure our borders, allow us to enforce the laws, and fix a broken immigration system. but again, on an issue this big, the president has to lead. i think members on both sides of

the aisle is on this issue. i'm not going to get into any of the details of how you would get there. it's just time to get the job done. >> mr. speaker, it sounds like you're talking about setting up a framework for next year to do the tax reform and entitlements. but now you need to deal with the sequester and the medicare problem and you've spoke or there's this concept of a down payment. can you go into what you expect that to be? >> i would rather not do that because i don't want to limit the options available to me or limit the options that might be available to the white house. there are a lot of ways to get there. and i don't really want to procollude anyone who might have a good idea about how we move forward. but it's clear, it's clear that we have to fix our broken tax system and we have to deal with our spending problem.

>> there's a report you would need to pay for turning off the sequester immediately or could that be part of a bigger deal? >> nice try. >> mr. speaker, does calling a tax reform give a better way to selling it to your caucus in terms of increasing revenues versus something that's revenue neutral, which is a montra we have heard in the past? >> we have had this discussion over the course of the last year and a half. you all know and the president and i were attempting to deal with it a year and a half ago that there were revenues on the table. you can produce revenue and put revenue on the table through fixing our broken tax system, getting our economy going again and get more americans back to work. >> thanks, everybody. >> and speaker john boehner

wrapping up this morning, talking mainly about the fiscal cliff, also taking some questions on immigration reform. one thing the speaker was adamant about was not limiting himself on certain language to demonstrate in this briefing that could be used in talks coming up. however, the speaker did say he spoke with president obama earlier this week and it was cordial and he remains hopeful. one thing that came up was talking about revenue and whether there will be revenue neutral talks or loopholes. up next, a chance to talk to jared bernstein. we'll get his thoughts on exactly what we heard there that speaker boehner. >> plus chris christie's surprising phone call. who did he call first wsh the details ahead. humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans.

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speaker boehner just wrapping up a news conference. and where taxes and raising taxes is going to fall into the equation. >> this is an opportunity for the president to lead. this is his moment to engage the congress and work towards a solution that can pass both chambers. >> policy adviser to joe biden, he's now a senior fellow at policy priorities and an msnbc contributor. jared, good to have you here. after hearing what the speaker had to say, your reaction to his comments? >> i heard three main points relevant to the fiscal cliff. two of which sounded good to me and one will be a source of great contention. i was listening to whether speaker boehner was talking about new revenues exclusively through the trickle down effects.

which most economists don't believe are credible. if you lower rates and get revenue because of some magic asterisk, it's not there. what you end up with are bigger budget deficits. he tipped his hat to that idea, but he stressed the need for closing loopholes and broadening the tax base. secondly, he's not talking about revenue neutrality. he's talking about new revenues, and he referenced a deal with the president where they had $800 billion in new revenue on the table. third and this part goes against the election outcome, he reiterate z his no on increased tax rates. those are the three points that came across to me. >> he said twice he didn't want to box himself in. one of the questions to him after this election was why do you think you have any leverage moving forward? but he came back with saying

they still have the house majority. as we talk about the prospect of higher taxes and major cuts to the deficit, i want to show the minimum tax will kick in meaning half of married couples with two kids would owe $4,000 in taxes a year. add that to a 2% increase for workers when the 2011 tax cut expires. for those people, all of us that have worked, that's a lot of money. but what does that mean for the greater economy? >> i think that that's very contraction nar to be talking about an increased tax bill of $4,000 for middle class households. i would say the payroll tax cut alone even that, i think, is too contraction nar. and this is an important point. i heard so many discussions about the deficit and tax

increases. well we also have to be mindful of the fact that there's some momentum in the economic recovery, but it needs more. so i think we have to be mindful to continue some of these short-term measures that are helping to boost growth in the near term. >> it showings consumer sentiment has climbed to its highest level in five years. it seems like that recovery could be in our grasp. >> absolutely. you have to realize that people's earnings from paychecks have been plat or worse for the last four our five months. the idea to take that tax out of the system and put a hit on paychecks is not a good idea. >> jared bernstein, thanks. i appreciate it. live kovj of the president's remarks at 1:05 eastern time right here on msnbc. out of this election, another milestone for marriage equality. washington now joining the states to legalize same-sex marriage which includes maryland. that governor is going to join

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it worked for me. what if there was a new that focused less on feesy and more... on what matters? maybe your bank account is taking too much time and maybe it's costing too much money. introducing bluebird by american express and walmart.

your alternative to checking and debit. it's loaded with features, not fees. because we think your money should stay where it belongs. with you. the value you expect. the service you deserve. it feels good to bluebird. get it at your local walmart. . president obama is delighted by the same-sex marriage votes. voters in maryland and maine and washington approved it. this means it is the law of the land in ten states and washington, d.c. this week in minnesota they rejected a constitutional amendment to ban guy marriage. and voters elected tammy baldwin who will become the first openly-gay senator. joining me e is maryland governor martin o'malley. it's great to have you here.

you were front and center for the marriage e equality battle. chad griffin heard you were going to be on with me today. he sent me this note saying no one worked harder for marriage equality than governor o'malley. he was on the front lines getting this done. this is what leadership looks like. sir, from your perspective, what were the key factors in seeing this legislation become a reality? >> i think the key factor was the goodness and the fairness of the people of maryland. as you know, you're from maryland. we have a diverse population. but together we came to that large space that said that every child's home deserves to be protected equally under the law. we also had courageous people step up. two that come to mind are pastor hickman in baltimore city and pastor coats. their articulation of that fundamental truth that in order to protect religious freedom we

have to protect rights legally under the law. that was important in making this a positive dialogue with a positive outcome rather than that old framework and fear-based dialogue that defeated this referendum in other states. >> the supreme court will consider various measures allowing or denying marriage equality on a national level. do you think the supreme court will take action on this or the likelihood is they will kick it back to the state level? >> i don't know. when we come back upon issues of equal rights for all people, the way we usually move forward is court action. now with these four states, we have seen that there's direct action of the voters at the bat l lot. i believe this issue is moving forward. my daughters scratch their heads and wonder how older people even

have a problem with that. eventually the supreme court will get there and probably much sooner than later. >> i want to talk about what this means for your career because we have the opportunity to talk about your political capital and now you have seen this through to victory. "the washington post" wrote that you are the most in any of the people on this list when it comes to 2016 in terms of probably being thought of app as a contender for running for president and "time" ranked you among the political leaders to watch. as you pointed out, i'm just a kid from baltimore, will you break some news on my hour and confirm whether or not you're going to run for president. >> whatever good we have been able to do in our state is attributable to the goodness of the people that i have the honor to serve. so right now, i'm thinking a lot more on catching up on sleep than i am on 2016. we have two years ahead of us and i'm looking forward to moving our state to the other side of this recession. and i've never been more reli e

relieved by an electoral outcome without being on the ballot than i have this tuesday and being able to work with president obama, the future is bright. >> you had the governors association. >> a huge night. >> five additions coming up. >> it was a great night for the democratic governors association. we had six contested races and we won five of six. and also won puerto rico, which no one would have thought. sadly, we lost north carolina, but we did win 5 of 6. we had better candidates and a better message of jobs and opportunity in the tough choices now. >> just remember, this kid needs to know if you're going to run for president. so when you come to that determination, you're invited back to let me know. thanks so much. appreciate it. florida, it's time for the poli-sci bar.

the president leads mitt romney by less than 60,000 votes. they have until noon tomorrow. one of romney's advisers say they are not going to be contesting the results. president obama got a lot of congratulations and a lot of calls for winning. the election including one from chris christie. but there was no phone call to his friend mitt romney. the governor only sent him an e-mail. you want to know what a romney presidency looked like with they gave a preview. a victory rally website pop ped up. it calls him the president-elect. featured bios of him and p pr. steven colbert is still keeping up but isn't sure whether he can weather the storm. >> yes, a nor'easter. a storm so powerful it can wipe out a region's supply of t's and h's. and folks, i'm afraid that this

new storm could hurt romney's momentum. i mean, it could slow him down. i mean he already lost the election. that can't help. >> senator ashlee judd? that could be a possibility all the some point. she's not ruling out a run against mitch mcconnell. however, she told "us weekly." while i'm honored by the consideration, let's focus oncoming together to keep moving america's families and especially our kids forward.

so what happens to a presidential campaign after a loss? the staffers, the campaigners, the candidate? since mitt romney's defeat on tuesday his campaign twitter feed has fallen silent and the credit cards have stopped working pretty much right away. for a look into the end of the romney campaign we turn to garret headache, fresh off the campaign trail after following

the former governor's campaign. >> 16 months? >> give or take. >> don't look worse for ware. >> tell us about what it was like wednesday morning, the i guess, you know, they knew going in they were going to have to throw in the towel, what was it like after midnight and how the campaign disbanded? >> sort of like a last person out turn off the lights. you saw staffers coming home after what they expected to be this huge party, getting out of cabs, having their credit cards turned off as you mentioned. people the next day, were shellshocked probably the single best word for it this is no the a campaign like you had four years ago with john mccain staffers could largely see the writing on the wall. most of the people from the mid-level folks on down especially looked up at the top echelon, looked at mitt romney who was projecting complete confidence, he and i sat as close as you and i are on the last day and he said we will win this thing and the people believed it. to have the bottom fall out by 10:00 or 11:00 at night we saw a lot of devastated people.

>> how much longer does romney get secret service? like the things that go along with the presidential campaign, how soon does that wither away? >> the secret service is all but done at this point. he still had the agents overnight. some of the agents still around in boston the next day. their basic prerogative is to make sure protesters aren't going to overrun his house and the baseline level of security is there. and with the romney family, largely spread out across the country, no young kids in boston their work is all but done at this point. back to a private citizen by today. >> what's the headline for you having been a fly on the wall for this campaign, that you don't think that the american public would recognize about mitt romney? >> if all you saw of mitt romney was the person who sat in chairs for interviews and gave rally, you got the impression, the campaign wanted was, this is an economic guy, this is his focus. but behind the scenes, there's -- there was a much more complete person there that for good or ill, the campaign decided that you weren't ever

going to get a chance to see. you didn't get to see him be a grandfather. didn't get a sense of how his faith impacted his life. these other facets if you bumped into him at the gym or ran into his kids shopping, you got this better picture. for whatever reason the campaign decided that would be a distraction, wasn't a message they wanted to sell. >> had to be a fascinating experience. welcome back. job well done to garret. thank you, sir. that's going to wrap things up for me. have a great weekend, everybody. see you back here on monday at 11:00. coming up, we have former florida governor charlie cyst, vermont senator bernie sanders and traveling press secretary for the obama campaign jen psaki. "now" with alex is coming your way next. >> we love friday editions, don't we? >> friday. >> signs point to partisan de taunt in d.c. as president obama gets to get set to make his first official statement. speaker john boehner is making a series of once unthinkable

comments, health care is the law of the land, we can find common ground on immigration and we'll talk. josh greene, kurt andersen, lin suite, jeff mason, help us take a look at the party planning. plus, wall street's bad bet on the president. can the white house and big business repair the damage done? and who will take the reigns as the grand old party rides off into the future? all that when "now" starts in a mere 180 seconds. breathe, but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia.

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